Falling in love with the ocean

Ah! Here I am, on the day that my semester is ending! Let me tell you about the past few weeks in the ocean. The first week was spent in Ban Jao Mai, a Muslim village in southern Thailand; we spent two days in Koh Lipe, one of the islands of the Adang Archipelago; and spent the next week camping in Koh Rawi, another of the 22 islands that the archipelago has. If anyone is doing math on how many days I was gone: this course was the longest (20 days), but three of those days were traveling days. Here’s how it all went.

Getting to Trang (the province where Ban Jao Mai is found)

            On the first day, our whole group of 17 students (James, an Australian boy who has grown up in Chiang Mai joined us for this trip, and he was in my group) took taxis to the train station in Chiang Mai and eventually got on the night train to Bangkok. This train ride lasted 16 hours, in which I got to see incredible things just outside my window, hang out with the group, have a three-course meal, and sleep. The sleeping was my favorite. You sit face-to-face with another person, with just enough room for your feet in between; at around seven or eight, after dinner, someone comes and kicks you out of your seat to make your beds. The two seats become the lower bed, and a compartment on the top is opened to make up the second bed. I had the pleasure of sleeping on the bottom bunk, with the not-so-gentle rocking of the train but a fresh breeze coming in through the huge window. It was awesome. Don’t worry, they gave you sheets, a blanket, and curtains for privacyJ.

We arrived in Bangkok at around eight a.m. the next morning, took the metro to Chatuchack Market (widely known as JJ market), where the amount of people and things was quite overwhelming, as were the amount of animals being sold everywhere: puppies, cats, rabbits, hedgehogs, reptiles, birds, and fish. The whole point of going there was to explore the fish section so we could see what kind of reef fish were being sold, illegally, in the market. We found what we were looking for. It was in the market that we bid adieu to Group B, who had an earlier train to the Adang Archipelago (their trip started where ours ended and ended where ours started), and I was left with Jonah, Silas, James, Hannah B, Nicole L, Nicole B, and Emily, my group for this expedition. We left the market and hung out at JJ Park, where we relaxed, ate snacks, and spotted a cool monitor lizard, our first one yet! We walked around Bangkok for a while after hanging out, and got to cross a huge highway on foot and see all the cool-colored taxis.

Later we returned to the train station to take our second night train to Trang. This one was 14 hours and not much different from the last one, except for we had half as many people.

And just like that, we arrived in Trang, were picked up at the train station, ate breakfast, and drove for I don’t know how many hours to Ban Jao Mai. Something about this trip made it feel like a vacation…  

Ban Jao Mai

            As soon as we arrived, we met up with our instructors (did I mention we had been traveling alone?), and made our way to the beach. I caught my first crab that day. Yes, it was about one centimeter wide, but still I was proud and excited. We took a longtail boat to see the mangroves that the village is near and talked to Ma Teh, who basically runs the village and owns the one cool restaurant where we hung out every day, and Bang Het, her brother. They were both very knowledgeable about the mangroves, so we got to ask them tons of questions. Oh, yeah, down at this village they use “Ma” for the women instead of “Mae” and “Bang” for the men (Bang is more of an “uncle” term than a “dad” term). We longtailed it back to the village, got ready, and met our host families. We had dinner at Ma Teh’s restaurant, each with our own family. My mom’s name was Mai, just like me. That’s still a cool thing today. My dad was Bang Iat, Ma Teh’s son and whose longtail would be taking us everywhere. Nong Lin and Nong Chok were my host brothers, nine and 12, respectively.

            In Ban Jao Mai, I would sit with Ma Mai on the floor for dinner and we shared pictures, stories, and watched Thai TV. Ma Mai and I would cook dinner together often, and that was our bonding time. Bang Iat, who a couple days later told me I should call him Pa Iat, let me drive the longtail once, and that was fun. They spoiled me, to say the least.

One of our activities in Ban Jao Mai was a mangrove transect, in which we kayaked around the mangroves and stopped at given points to observe trees, fish species, invertebrate species, and substrate. Swimming around the mangroves was strange; scary, actually, because it’s hard to see the bottom, and the roots of the trees poke you everywhere. I learned there, though, that sea kayaking is fun.

Ma Mai and Pa Iat’s house was only one minute from the beach, so I made my way down there to watch the sunset many nights. Many nights P’Jonas and P’Am (my instructors) would join our family for dinner, and P’Jonas constantly gave me ecology lessons on the crabs, slugs, squid, or fish they were eating and P’Am updated me on everyone-in-Thailand’s favorite soap opera. Many nights I also fell asleep to Ma Mai singing along to songs in English when she thought I couldn’t hear (Westlife’s “My love” was my favorite).

Breakfast in Ban Jao Mai was called knom-chao; that’s like calling it “snacks” instead of “breakfast.” And it was. I would drive over to a little shop with my parents every morning, eat donuts (made seconds before I ate them), and drink kohpee, the strongest coffee I had ever had (I later learned that the coffee beans are roasted with sugar, then processed, hence the incredibly strong molasses taste). Needless to say, I’m sure I gained a few pounds—truth, but I’m not ashamed.

One day we explored a mudflat near Ban Jao Mai, where I found lots of hermit crabs, mudskippers, a sea anemone, soldier crabs, and so much more. We had the afternoon free on that day, so we had a beach day with the group. Beach days are my favorite days. Another day we explored a sea grass area, where dugongs feed…we didn’t get to see the dugongs, though. I got to observe shrimp and gobies in their little houses, and that was pretty cool. This was also the first time I snorkeled (outside of the giant pool in which we practiced before we left for the course). On this day, P’Jonas taught me to body-surf. I can’t wait to try that out on Lake Michigan this summer!

We swam through a cave to get to a really awesome beach, seemingly untouched (although too many tourists go there each day). It was such a peaceful place. On the same day we visited a rubber plantation and learned about shrimp farms. Oh, and I can’t forget about the fact that in Ban Jao Mai I got to help roast, break open, and eat cashew nuts. So good!

Our last full day in Ban Jao Mai was spent cooking and preparing for our party on that night. We helped cut up a lot of the vegetables, make knom, and watched the slaughtering of the goat they had been fattening up for us. I was a little emotionally attached to the goat, not going to lie, as she lived in my garden and hung out with me as I lay in the hammock in my house. They slaughter and butcher the goat in very humane ways, so that made it easier. We also got to play Muslim Barbie. The moms dressed us up in Muslim garments, put a lot of makeup on our faces, and a veil on our heads. I was just happy to be able to provide some entertainment for them. Our party at night was so much fun; we took pictures at the beach, had a delicious meal at Ma Teh’s restaurant, got to publicly say to our parents just how much we appreciated them, and had a dance party with our families. It was a great way to end our homestay.

Leaving the next day was hard. All the students and their families met up for breakfast in the shop, where we thought we’d say goodbye to our families. But they came in the vans with us on our three-hour ride to the port in Pakbara, where we’d be taking off for the archipelago. They bought us snacks at a 7-11 during a bathroom stop (regular Thais) and fed us before we boarded the ferry. My host mom didn’t make it all the way there with us because she had a maternity check-up on that day (did I mention she is pregnant?), but my dad and both of my siblings made it, and they stayed until we could no longer see them as we drove away on the ferry.

Koh Lipe

            Two days in a tropical paradise island for our midcourse seminar were pretty incredible. We met up with the other group for a little over half a day, and it was wonderful to see our friends and share this island with them. I spent the afternoon working on my essay at the resort’s restaurant and we had a meeting with the Urak Lawoi, the locals who live in Lipe, and learned about their life style and how tourism had affected it. I later found a coffee shop to continue working on my essay, but ended up singing “Wonderful tonight” and playing maracas for multiple songs with one of the owners and some workers. I made some friends that nightJ.

            Needless to say, I had to get up early to finish my essay, since the previous night wasn’t as productive as I hoped. I went to watch the sunrise on the beach and that was just the perfect way to start my day. It was just so beautiful!

            In Lipe, we got to walk around and shop and ask owners whatever we wanted to know about the island; we had many interesting conversations. Our group got to spend a lot of time together, especially at meals in town. We also met with the owner of Mountain Resort, where we were staying, who was one of the first investors to come to Lipe and works closely with the Urak Lawoi; interesting as well.

            We got rained in on our departure day; luckily, we were only crossing the channel to the next island to hang out at the Adang Archipelago National Park for one night.

Camping in Koh Rawi

            We were fortunate enough to have an incredibly beautiful camping spot in an island near Lipe, Rawi. We camped just a few feet off the water at high tide, had a neat place to set up our kitchen, a fresh-water stream just off the trail from the campsite, and an incredible coral reef off our beach. We couldn’t have asked for more.

            We had completed many of the activities for the course, so our week in the island was mainly dominated by what we wanted to do—which is not at all how the rest of our courses have worked. It was, after all, spring break, right?

            One of our activities was to go into the reef off our beach (which we all referred to as “our reef”) and count the many different species of organisms that we saw. Hard work, right? So we put on our masks, snorkels, rash-guard, and fins and headed out to count amazing fish. No big deal. This was the first time I saw a false clownfish (a Nemo, if you will). I found the anemone and swam to it. The thing with clownfish, is that they swim toward you, and not away from you. So there I was, in a coral reef off the amazing Koh Rawi, face to face with a clownfish. I cannot tell you how many times I repeated this scenario in the following week.

            If I were to mention all the different organisms I saw each time I snorkeled in a reef, the list would be endless and you’d get bored; so I will refrain. But snorkeling in a coral reef is something that I never thought I would find myself doing, so every time it was an incredible experience.

            We kayaked a few times to different reefs to do specific studies, but we also spent a lot of our time hanging out and eating at our campsite. Most nights I slept either right on the beach (yes, crabs did crawl on me at night), on a hammock overlooking the ocean, or in a tent that also overlooked the ocean. I don’t know how any successive camping experiences will be able to compare to this one!

           I know it seems like this was all fun and games, but I really learned so much on this course! We learned about the many challenges that tourism brings to pristine places such as the Andaman Archipelago. For example, 90 percent of the coral reefs in the archipelago are bleached (or dead, so to speak), which means that, throughout the years, many species have ceased to exist because their habitats are destroyed. We also witnessed trawlers just miles from the beaches, catching as many fish as they could in the dark hours of the night; we learned of the conflicts that the national park has when it comes to stopping illegal fishing (trawlers) and how much power to do so they actually have; heard the two sides to the conflicts between the national park and the Urak Lawoi; and witnessed just how terrible the problem of trash in the ocean is--among many other things. 

           

            Although there are many more things to tell when it comes to this course, I will save those for later, when I see you, perhaps? I have many details and stories left to share :) 

Thanks for reading. As usual, all my love.